Documenting Torture
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DOCUMENTING TORTURE EXTRACTS FROM ŞANLIURFA BAR ASSOCIATION’S REPORT ON HALFETI INCIDENT Translated by: Arrested Lawyers Initiative April 2021 The Arrested Lawyers Initiative (TALI) The Arrested Lawyers Initiative is a European rights groups consisting mainly of lawyers from Turkish background trying to ensure lawyers and human rights defenders perform their duty without fear of intimidation, reprisal and judicial harassment. TALI is a member of the International Observatory for Lawyers. www.arrestedlawyers.org Şanlıurfa Bar Association Şanlıurfa Bar Association was first established in 1952. Headed by Lawyer Abdullah Oncel, Şanlıurfa Bar Association became actively involved in the fight against torture. This current report was prepared by a commission of the Human Rights Center of the Bar Association which consisted of lawyers Abdullah Oncel, Velat Karahan, Necati Tas, Mevlut Gunes, Bahyettin Asoglu, Copyright © 2021 Arrested Lawyers Initiative All rights reserved. Mustafa Vefa, Meral Halat, Lezgin Oktay, Ayse Sehriban Demirel, Vedat Tosun and intern Ali Aslan. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any from or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the www.sanliurfabarosu.org.tr prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. The legal responsibility for the original Turkish texts rests on the Şanlıurfa Bar Associations Human Rights Center, and that for the translation, on the Arrested Lawyers Initiative. The photographs used in the report are in public domain, whereas the rights of all work of art belongs to the Arrested Lawyers Initiative. Some of the victims of torture identified here only with their initials have since been released and decided to go public with their full names. Their publicized accounts are in line with their legal statements. As this extract is meant to be used as legal evidence, we stayed faithful to the original document. PREFACE Human rights lawyers and defenders were terrified by the shocking details of torture that took place in May 2019 at Sanliurfa Provincial Security Directorate’s Anti-Terror Branch. Although this was not an isolated incident, and torture has been an epidemic since 2016’s thwarted coup attempt, it was the first time that the victims were properly interviewed by human rights lawyers and the incident was well documented. Following murder of a police officers, fifty-four Kurdish civilians, including women and elderly persons, were randomly arrested by the security officials in Halfeti District of Sanliurfa province. The victims were subjected to various forms of torture including beating, sexual and verbal abuse, attempted rape, electrification and threat of killing. Bar Associations of Sanliurfa and Gaziantep, Foundation for Society and Legal Studies (TOHAV) and Human Rights Association published separate reports on the incidence based on detailed interviews with the victims and their lawyers. The findings of all these reports were corroborating with each other. Some images and videos showing the victims while they were taken to the courthouse or at the garden of a police station were also supportive of the claims of the victims. The Arrested Lawyers Initiative summarily translated the report of Human Rights Center of Sanliurfa Bar Association. The original report is a 34 pages long Turkish text with no images. The artwork included in this translation are created by Gianluca Costantini based on the accounts of the victims. They do not necessarily reflect the physiognomies of the victims or of the nature of the torture they were subjected to. The Arrested Lawyers Initiative April 2021 1 ŞANLIURFA BAR ASSOCIATION HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE 2 ŞANLIURFA BAR ASSOCIATION HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE HALFETI INCIDENT: CONTEXTUAL NOTES n an armed conflict between the Turkish security forces and the militants of the Kurdistan Workers IParty (PKK) on May 18, 2019, a police officer lost his life. As part of the investigation launched by the Şanlıurfa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office fifty-four civilians were detained and brought to the Şanlıurfa police station. Soon, allegations of maltreatment and torture appeared in social media. In response to an appeal by the lawyers of the detained, 11 lawyers from the Şanlıurfa Bar Association’s Human Rights Center were commissioned to interview the alleged victims and prepare a report on the allegations. The resulting report was shocking even for the human rights lawyers who have witnessed torture incidents which became the new rule, rather than the exception in Turkey’s detention centres and police stations. The report indicated that several of the detainees were sexually tortured and the ones subjected to torture and ill treatment were threatened by police officers to prevent them from telling what they went through. The pressure to prevent documentation of torture continued on when the victims were brought in front of the judges. The extracts from the report of the Sanliurfa Bar Association corroborate the reports of other human rights organization who also interviewed the victims. This photograph was shared by social media accounts allegedly run by the Special Operation Police. The photograph was presumed by the Sanliurfa Bar Association to have been taken in the garden of the Halfeti police station. 3 ŞANLIURFA BAR ASSOCIATION HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE SANLIURFA BAR ASSOCIATION CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS EVENT s a result of the torture, mistreatment and massive violations of human rights that took place Abetween the dates of 18/05/2019 – 28/05/2019, our Bar Association has visited individuals held at detention centers, individuals that have been imprisoned after their arrest warrants, and the location the events took place and conducted meetings with the Sanliurfa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. As a result of the meetings and investigations conducted, it has been determined that torture and mistreatment is present. Subsequently, this report has been prepared. Şanlıurfa Bar Association’s Human Rights Center lawyers during a press meeting publicizing their report on the Halfeti torture cases. 3 June 2019, Şanlıurfa / Turkey. 4 ŞANLIURFA BAR ASSOCIATION HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE Logo of the Şanlıurfa Bar Association NOTE: On 22.05.2019, while Lawyer Mustafa VEFA, a member of our committee, was on the first floor of the Sanliurfa Courthouse at the location of the specially authorized prosecutors' room for his private work, he witnessed an individual and two undercover police officers that were leaving the prosecutor's room which was at the third door to the entrance of the corridor. The individual had his hands tied and had bruises on his face. These two police officers pushed this individual’s face to the wall and said, "You will retract the statement you just gave, you will say ‘I was not tortured’, and you will tell the prosecutor, the lawyers forced you to state that you were tortured, otherwise we will kill you." Later, we have established that this person was Lawyer Fikret Tekinalp's client B.A. This situation will be confirmed if the security cameras in the aforementioned corridor are examined. – omitted from translation – 5 ŞANLIURFA BAR ASSOCIATION HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE Lawyer Tulay Sahin Ozturk’s Statement: “My client was unlawfully handcuffed behind the back and taken into custody on 18.05.2019. … I have observed marks of beatings on the faces of individuals named B.A and O.G. B.A’s face was swollen and he was holding the right side of his ribcage with his right hand. If I recall correctly, O.G had a black right eye. The individual named O.G came to the bar association to look for a lawyer when his relatives were detained. I had the opportunity to meet him there. However, after leaving the bar association, he was detained and battered. When the people that were detained in scope of the relevant investigation were brought to the courthouse for an extension of their detention period, I observed that some of them were beaten up, had difficulty walking and their clothes were miserable. “I have observed marks of beatings on the faces of individuals named B.A and O.G. B.A’s face was swollen and he was holding the right side of his ribcage with his right hand.” Lawyer Tulay Sahin Ozturk Both from the verbal conversations with my client and my own observations, I have observed that the Sanliurfa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has greatly tortured individuals detained within the scope of the investigation numbered 2019/17231 at the Sanliurfa TEM (countering terrorism branch of the police department), and these individuals are subject to inhumane treatment. I request from the Sanliurfa Bar Association to take action against torture and mistreatment and to take steps ensuring that the investigation in question is conducted in accordance with the law.” 6 ŞANLIURFA BAR ASSOCIATION HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE Lawyer Meral Halat’s Statement: “On 21.05.2019 at 21:39, I went to the Sanliurfa Police Headquarters Karakopru Additional Services Building Countering-Terrorism Branch Directorate to have a meeting with my client A.Z. I notified the authorities of my request to meet with my client. My request was accepted. I carried out the meeting duly. The person I met was having difficulty standing and he was anxious. After introducing myself, I asked about his condition. He thought that he was brought here to be tortured. I presented my lawyer identification card to him. He stated that he had been subject to physical violence and showed the lower part of his ribcage stating that it was broken. He said that he was 45-50 years old and that he had never been insulted, degraded and tortured in his life this much. His psychology was negatively affected, and he was tearful.” – omitted from translation – “He reported that he was taken to the hospital, but the doctor did not examine him during the health check.